I got a katana, for when there is no ammo.

Originally posted by titorite
How about wsome small pebbles and a slingshot.... Maybe a steel baseball bat?

I own a 6 foot solid steel rod I got from an old factory of some type... It has threads on the top but not the bottom... God awful heavy thing but if
you swung it into something it wont stop for something soft and squishy.

I own a crappy machette... But thats more for scareing possums and whacking weeds.

See no you're talking! A club, a baseball bat is really just a nice club, is a great weapon to have! It's sturdy, massively damaging and does not
take a lot of skill to use. In fact all it takes is a little muscle and some basic coordination. Besides if you ever want to practice, there are
tons of places to do so, batting cages!

well you might be fairly certain you can kill a charging bear but why dont you go try it. I bet fighting a bear with a sword is no picnic and i
certainly wont be easy if you are not trained to use one.

Samurai have a technique. I don't know exactly what it's called, but I was taught to call it backhanded. it's taught with sticks.
First with weighted iron wood to teach of pain, and to build strength.
Then with fragile reeds, to teach control and finally with real swords.

You place the sword in your hands, holding it point down thumbs up. Then you rotate it upwards so that the point it now facing up, while not changing
your grip.
This position is for meditating and increasing flexibility of the arms.
Rotate the sword back as if to holster it, holding towards one side of the body or another. Like you see samurai when about to draw. swinging from
here is not only an offensive maneuver, but one of defense as well.
Holding the sword against the forearm acts as a block, and a cutting move if you were to strike with the forearm in this position.
Another thing to consider while the sword is against the forearm, it can be concealed along the length of your arm and along your back.
effective in lower visibility situations. concealing a held knife is the basis for this tactic.
the forearm stroke can be amplified by additional pressure to the sword by the forearm resulting in a devastating slash. These techniques are for
close and dirty combat.

when distance is needed, traditional overhand can be utilized, but has a flaw that one should be aware of. Applying leverage on the blade can result
in you losing your grip on the sword and allowing it to fall to your opponent.
This is why the backhanded technique is utilized. It is very hard to apply leverage to the sword, when its natural position in this technique falls to
the wielder. I know of other techniques which employ the backhanded method that can gain as mush distance as the overhand approach, without exposing
the wielder to the afore mentioned leverage flaw.
Been ages since I practiced though. Glad to see I still remember some of it.
My teacher could point finger the tip of a sword and disarm you, just like that.
I am novice at best.

we will all be dead and buried by the time the world runs out of the minerals to make gun powder and lead to cast your own bullets..Any one serious
about survival knows this,so your ginsu knife will just get you shot..Wether be it from a fire arm,or home made bow and arrow,or bola,with a cue
ball..

It's called Kendo, and is based on old Kenjutsu. It's important to note that this is not a "style" of swordplay but a full martial art in to
itself. There are also three distinct martial arts based upon just the drawing of the blade.

Katana combat is very very different from most any other style of swordplay found in the world. It is very different also from what we see in movies
of samurai as well

What I was taught, is intended for actual combat.
I began actual training in 'Shuai Chao".
In Shuai Chao, you learn to fall, as well as maintain a low center.
The entire body is used for throwing and falling.
Falling and recovery become offensives.
I recall a move where the leg is used to amplify an upward thrust, which if one were to have a short sword, would be a devastating move.
Because of the proximity, it is nearly indefensible.
Something is getting cut.
Swords are scary things no doubt, but as has been mentioned already several times, projectiles are much more frightening when faced with a real
situation.
I am years out of practice by the way and forgot a lot of it.

Which brings me to something else I was taught and I am exceedingly proficient at, and I practice often.
Improvisation.
Learning how to effectively use anything as a weapon is a skill worth having in any survival situation.
This is going to sound really stupid, but I will divulge it anyway.
Examples would be, scissors, screwdrivers, pliers, cans of soda, paper, dishes.

Rope, OMG great stuff. 550 cord and Shuai Chao.
Never leave home without it.
I have a specific length of 550 tied to my keys. Which are not too heavy, but when swung, will break a windshield. Yes, I have tried.
Clothing and towels work just like rope, but you can blind someone and conceal what you have.

Pens can inflict some serious injury if know how to handle them and how to throw the metal ones. Think of the "Borne" movie where he fights with a
pen and a magazine.
Paper. The innocuous paper. I can fold single sheet of paper in such a way that it may as well be a knuckle duster.

All survival tactics.
All good to know when the ammo runs out.
All serve to buy you time to get out of dodge.
I take great enthusiasm in knowing how to handle odd stuff like I was going to dust someone with it.
All things being relative, I hope the would be assasin is the one whom runs out of ammo first.

Believe me I know what my ninjato is capable of. I've been a martial artist for 20 of my almost 25 years of life. I recommend that among weapons of
any kind that people find a direct combat school. Meaning arts like Wing Chun, Krav Maga, Taijitsu, and Karate. These are straight forward arts meant
to quickly disable or kill an opponent armed or not.

I used to own a few swods but I got rid of them all. Than I wanted to get something for home protection when I moved out so I ended up gettin a
machetti for like 20$ from the army surplus store by my house. Its pretty heave and has a saw blade alomg the back and a sherpener built into the
case. I'm thonkin it can easally hack. A limb off if needed. But niw the 12 guage will work a lot better

Another thing about your sword..ifsomeone mentioned this already, my apologies

is it a full tang or a rat tail tang..ifits a full tang meaning your blade isone piece with a handle over it, or a rat tail..meaning a crappy poorly
weled on stickof metal goes through your handle with a nut holding it on, theres a huge difference. rat tails BREAK EASILY. I have 5 katanas, well 4
now, my rat tail broke when I was messing around with it. Iwont knock using a sword because I think they are awesome, but get a

hand folded high carbon steel that has been tempered IE traditionally made japanese swords. and they need to be properly sharpened do not use a
knife sharpener please!

keep a collection of guns with ammo and USE SPARINGLY. A well placed single shot is just as effective as an emptied clip of hipfired shots. also a
machete, survival knife,bow and arrow, gunpowder and basic explosives knowledge. I personally keep an arsenal of weapons and several different
options.

Any long knife/sword is meant for a very specific style of formalized combat. Without training and actual combat experience, it will several pounds
of dead weight that has limited used in most survival situations. Even the samurai knew that unless he's fighting a similar armed opponent, he'd
keep his long sword in its tsuba or sheath. The blade a samurai used most often was his tanto , then his wakizashi or short sword was used in close
in fighting defense. The long katana or daito was used in formal combat against another samuarai. Samurai often used spears, bow and arrows,
throwing knives and axes and a myriad of other weapons. The one weapon they all respected was the simple quarterstaff in the hands of a competent
wielder even when they were armored. A master of the 'bo' could often defeat 2-3 samurai in open ground combat but it wasn't as lethal against
armored opponents as a daito but in non formal combat situations, the samurai could often be seen with walking with a bo as his first line of defense.
The samurai were taught not just how to kill with their blades but when and where they could be best deployed and used.

So get you a shoulder high length of hornbeam or ash(there's a reason it's used for baseball bats) about 1.25-1.5" thick preferably from a sapling.
Add a stout knife of 6-12" in length, your choice of style and a tomahawk with hammer face or camping ax with flat back. Those tools should be
your first choices of survival arsenal.

A well placed sling stone would take down the baddest samurai in the land before he ever knew what hit him. I doubt very seriously that firearms
and ammo will only disappear when hand-held energy weapons finally show up but that's for another discussion.

Kill a charging bear with a Katana? I hope that was a joke. Even shot through the heart/pierced through the heart...a bear will continue on his
mauling mission for several minutes before feeling the effects...A Khukuri would be a better choice...Still wont kill a bear...Good luck to you

I bought a daito with a 440 stainless steel blade a long time ago, mainly for decoration. But being a stainless steel blade I wouldn't even think of
using it for actual defense. Sure it might fend off 2 or 3 zombies trying to eat my flesh, but when attaking the 4th it would most likely fail and I
would be zombie chow. I say a Luiseville Slugger will do a much better job of clearing a path for me to escape, it may not kill a zombie, but it will
aid in my escape.

Cool...
I got a whetstone for when your Katana runs out...
Then I know how to flintknap when my Whetstone runs out.

You want to know the funny part, if you get into a fight with someone else who still has ammo, when your down to your Katana, then they will have a
Katana when their ammo runs out.... And so on...And so on...

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